How Many Sanitary Bins do I Need in My Washroom?

When planning out the design and layout of your commercial washroom, an important factor to remember is the presence of sanitary bins for your washroom users. But you might be wondering; how many sanitary bins do I need in my commercial washroom, and is this number a legal requirement?

Are Sanitary Bins a Legal Requirement?

When it comes to the legal requirements concerning sanitary bins in places like washrooms, there are a few legal regulations that you need to be aware of, including;

• The Environmental Protection Act 1990: This states that businesses have a legal duty of care to safely and correctly manage waste on their premises.
• The Water Industries Act 1991: This states that no items are to be flushed that could cause a blockage in a sewage drain system.
• The Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992: This states that all businesses need to provide a means for disposing of sanitary products in women’s washrooms.

With all three of these regulations in mind, you can see that providing sanitary bins for your washrooms is a rights issue; as business owners, you are legally required to adhere to all three of these regulations, and failing to do so can incur significant penalties.

How Many Sanitary Bins Do I need?

When it comes to the number of sanitary bins needed in a washroom, there is no specific, legal requirement for any number of bins, provided there is at least one that is regularly maintained and emptied. Ideally, you would provide one sanitary bin per toilet cubicle so that waste which shouldn’t be flushed can be binned, and another sanitary bin by the sinks.

Depending on the size of the washroom in question, common sense and the design of the washroom will play a part in deciding what this number will be. A large washroom will no doubt need more than just the one bin, and for them to be equally spaced around the washroom in the places with most footfall.

To conclude, there are a variety of key regulations concerning sanitation and hygiene that make having at least one sanitary bin in your washrooms a requirement, but legally, there is no specific number of bins that you have to have in your washrooms; this number will instead be dictated by the size of the washroom and other design factors. If you were looking to buy sanitary bins for your washroom, you can view our full range of sanitary bins here.